Burglar-alarm



(No Model.)

A. V. TODD, BURGLAR ALARM. No. 605,589.

Patented June 14, 1898.

l UNITED STATES? .PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT V. TODD, OF OELWEIN, IOVA;

BURGLA Rj-ALAR M SPECIFICATION formingpart of et er-s Patent No. 605,589, dated June 14, 1898.

' Application filed 06mm 4, 1661f Serial No. 653,966. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: 7 Be it known that I, ALBERT V. TODD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oelwein, in the county of Fayette and State of Iowa, 5 have invented a new and useful Burglar- Alarm, of which the following is a specification;

My invention relates to improvements in burglar-alarms of that class to be applied to a door and adapted for operation automatic ally to explode a cap or cartridge when the dooris opened or tampered wit I p The object I have in view is to provide a simple and cheap device which may be easily applied to a door and which has its elements so constructed and arranged as to serve in a twofold capacityfirst, as a means for exploding a capor cartridge, and, secondly, as a device for locking the door after the cap or cartridge shall have been exploded on the initial opening of the door.

My improved device also serves as a fastener for holding the door in an openor partially open position, and the parts of the device are constructed in a novel manner to enable the bolt or plunger to be readily'adjusted by hand, either when the device is used as a door-fastener or as a burglar-alarm.

With these ends in view the invention consists in the combination of elements and in the construction and arrangement of parts,

as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed. r

To enable others to understand the invention, I have illustrated the preferred embodi; ment thereof in the accompanying drawings;

forming a part of this'sp'eciiica'tion, and in Figure 1 is a perspective view showing my Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional elevation through the fas r 40 improvement applied to a door.

tenor and alarm, showing thecbolt or plunger lowered into position to serve as a means for holding the door in its opened or partiallyopened condition. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the looltv or plunger adjusted in position to serve as a meansfor exploding a cap or cartridge. Fig. 4E isa perspective view of the device detached from the door and looking" at the inner chambered side of the casing.

Like numerals of reference denote corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 designates the casing, and 2 is the bolt or plunger, which is' loosely fitted'in' the casing to slide therein and to be capable of having turning movementoradjustm'ent, so that the bolt may be adjusted to serve as a means for exploding a cap or as a fastening device for holding. the door in its opened or partially- 6o opened condition. 1

The'casing lis constructed in a compact manner to contain the bolt or plunger, its impelling-spring, and one or more caps or cartridges. This casing is provided with a lon'gitudinal chamber or cavity 3, which opens through the inner or rear side of said casing. The lower end of the casing is solid, except for the vertical aperture 4, and the upper end of the casing is also solid and forms an inte- 7o gral part of said casing, except for. the aperture 5 and the keeper-slot 6. The apertures 4: 5 are in vertical alinement with each other and they open intothe chamber or cavity 3, and the keeper-slot 6 is formed longitudinally .in the upper front part of the casing 1, 'so as to open through the front side and upper end of said casing, the inner edge of the keeper-slot being in communication with the upper aperture 5 in said casing. The casing is furthermore provided with a series of integral aperturedlugs 7, whichextend beyond-the casing andfurnish a convenient means for the attachment of thedevice to the door by means of screws,which may pass through said apertured 8 5 lugs and into the door. Said casing is also provided with the rest-posts 8, which extend upwardly from an enlarged upper end or head of the casing 1, and said rest-posts are disposed on opposite sides of' the'keep'er-slot 6, 0'

the'zinner edges of the rest-posts 8 being I curved or beveled for the purpose of free movement or passage of the head of the locking fbolt or plunger when the device is to be used as a burglar-alarm. Near the rear side 5 of the enlarged head of the casing is provided the guide pins or. studs 9, each of said pins being arranged in close parallel'relation to one of the rest-posts and formingtherewitha guide space or throat, through whichth'e head -IOO of the bolt or plunger may pass and by which thestriker-hammer on' said-bolt or plunger is directed with precision and certainty upon the cap or cartridge placed on the head of the casing 1. This head of the casing is furthermore provided with sockets 10, one of which is situated adjacent to the throat formed by and between the guide-pin and the rest-post. This socket is of suitable depth to contain a cap or cartridge, and said cap or cartridge is adapted to fitsnuglyin said socket to be held steadily and firmly in place thereby and in the path of the striker-hammer on the belt or plunger. It is evident that the cap or cartridge may be readily fitted in place in the socket, and after it shall have been exploded the shell or fragment may be readily detached from the socket and a new cap or cartridge placed in the latter. If desired, I may pro vide the casing with a single socket, rest-post, and guide-pin; but I prefer to duplicate these parts and to arrange them 011 the casing on opposite sides of the keeper-slot 6 for the purpose of adjusting the belt or plunger to engage with either post and enable the lock and alarm to be used on right or left doors, as may be desired.

The bolt or plunger 2 consists of a straight rod or length of wire or bar metal, one end of which is bent at an angle to form the head 2, the straight shank of the belt or plunger passing through the guide-aperture at 5 and the chamber 3 of the casing, and the lower end of said bolt or plunger is hollow to form a seat 12. In this seat is fitted a foot 13, which may consist of a piece of rubber or othersuitable friction material, and which is fastened to the belt or plunger by cement or in any other suitableway. The friction-foot 13 of the belt or plunger is adapted to engage with the floor for the purpose of: holding the door in its opened or partially-opened position.

\Vithi n the chamber or cavity 8 of the casing 1 is arrangeda coil impelling-spring ll, which encircles the belt or plunger 2, so as to be held in position thereby, and one end of this impelling-spring is seated against the closed upper end of the casing 1, while the other end of said spring fits against a washer 15, the latter being held against sliding movement on the belt or plunger by a transverse removable pin 16, attached in a suitable way to the plunger or bolt. This coiled spring is quite strong in order to impel the plunger forcibly in a downward direction, and the spring thus serves to press the foot 13 firmly against the floor when the device is used as a doorfastener, and also to impart a quick strong play to the belt or plunger in order that the striker-hammer of the bolt maybe brought with sufficient force against the cap or cartridge to explode the latter when the device is used as a burglar-alarm. The head 2 of the bolt or plunger is of sufficient length to extend beyond the rest-post S, on which it may be adjusted when the device is used as a burglar-alarm, and in the path of this projecting end of the bolt-head is arranged a stop or detent 17. This stop or detent is shown in the drawings as consisting of a staple having an offset-head, and this staple is fastened to the door-jamb, so as to have its offset lie in the path of the protruding end of the head of the bolt, whereby as the door is opened the head 2 of the bolt is brought into engagement with the offset of the stop or detent, and the bolt is thus turned to a position where it'will pass between the rest-post and the guide-pin for the striker-hammer on said bolt-head to impinge against the cap or cartridge in the socket 10 of the casing. The angular bolt-head 2 is provided at a point intermediate of its length with a striker-hammer 18, said hammer being made as an integral part of the belt or plunger, or it may be fastened rigidly to the head 2 thereof.

In using my device as a lmrglar-alarm and door-fastener I provide a socket 19 on the floor, said socket lying in the path of the lower end or foot of the bolt and at a short distance in rear of the door, so that the foot of the bolt may enter the socket after the bolt has been shot to explode the cartridge when the door is surreptitiously opened.

The operation of my invention maybe described briefly as follows: The casing 1 is applied to the door near its lower free edge by passing suitable screws through the apertured lugs of said casing, thus fastening the device.

firmly in place on the door. \Vhen the door is opened or partially opened, the bolt may be turned in the casing for its angular head 2 to enter and slide in the keeper-slot 6, and the foot of the bolt is thus projected a sufiicient distance below the door for said foot 13 to engage firmly with the floor and hold the door in its opened position. To use the device as a burglar-alarm, a cap or cartridge 11 is placed in one of; the sockets 10 of the easing, and the bolt is lifted and turned for the angular head 2 to rest upon one of the restposts 8 and to have its free end projected beyond one side of the casing. The door being closed, the stop or detent 17 is fastened to the door-jamb in a position for the offset of said detent to be in the path of the free protruding end of the bolt-head. Should an attempt be made to open the door, the device will be carried with. the door toward the offset of the detent, and a continued movement of the door will turn the bolt or plunger to a position where the striker-hammer isbrought over and in line with the cap or cartridge 1], because the protruding on d of the head 2 engages with the offset in the detent 17. The head of the bolt being freed from engagement with the rest-post, the spring reacts and impels the bolt forciblyin the direction of its length, thus bringing the striker-hammer of the bolt-head into forcible contact with the cap or cartridge and exploding the latter to give the alarm.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings, it will be seen that I have provided an extremelysimple and eflicient deviceespecially adapted'to serve the purposes of a door-fastener to-hold the door in its open position and as a burglaralarm, that the device may be easily and readily adjusted to f ulfil either of these functions, and that thedevic'e'may be easily and quickly applied to a door. v

The socket 19 on the floor may be provided by forming a hole in the floor or by using an apertured plate, which may be fastened to the floor, and this socketed plate is arranged for the foot of the bolt to engage therewith after the bolt has beenshot and the cartridge exploded, thus furnishing a means for looking the door after the alarm has been given.

I am aware that changes in the form and proportion of parts and the details of construotion may be made by a skilled mechanic without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention. I therefore reserve the right to make such modifications and alterations as clearly fall within the scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is 1. In a combined burglar-alarm and doorfa'stener, a casing provided with a keeper-slot,

a cartridge-socket out of line with said slot and an elevated rest-post adjacent to said socket, in combination-with a spring-0on trolled boltfitted in the casing to slide and turn therein, said bolt provided with an angular head adapted to fit in the keeper-slot and enable the foot of the bolt to be projected sufficiently beyond the casing to engage with the floor, and also adapted, when the bolt is turned in one direction, to engage with the rest-post and sustain the bolt in a raised position, and means to turn the bolt and move the striker-hammer on the bolt-head into controlled bolt-provided with an angular head and arranged to project below the casing, a

friction-foot carried by the lower end of the bolt, and a striker-hammer carried by said head of the bolt, substantially as described for the purposes set forth.

- 3. In a combined burglar-alarm and doorfastener, a casing provided with an enlarged head, a central keeper-slot, cartridge-sockets in the head and on op osite sides of the keeper-slot, rest-posts adjacent to the cartridge-sockets and on opposite sides of said keeper-head, and guide pins or studs parallel to the rest-posts, in combination with a springcontrolled boltfitted looselyin said casing to slide and turn therein and provided with an enlarged head of said casing and with a carbeyond the casing for the friction-foot on said' bolt to engage with the floor, or said bolt may be raised to engage with the rest-post and be held in position for the striker-hammer to enter the cartridge-socket, substantially as described for the purposes set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

' ALBERT V. TODD.

Witnesses:

W. 0. SMITH, I. G. CHANDLER. 

